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Bill Gertz

Bill Gertz

bgertz@washingtontimes.com

Bill Gertz is a national security correspondent for The Washington Times. He has been with The Times since 1985.
He is the author of eight books, four of them national best-sellers. His latest book, "Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China's Drive for Global Supremacy," reveals details about the growing threat posed by the People's Republic of China. He is also the author of the ebook "How China's Communist Party Made the World Sick."
Mr. Gertz also writes Inside the Ring, a weekly column that chronicles the U.S. national security bureaucracy.
Mr. Gertz has been a guest lecturer at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.; the Central Intelligence Agency in Virginia; the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington; and the Brookings Institution in Washington. He has participated in the National Security Studies Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
He studied English literature at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and journalism at George Washington University. He is married and has two daughters.
He can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Bill Gertz

This image taken with a slow shutter speed on Oct. 2, 2019, and provided by the U.S. Air Force shows an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The world's nine nuclear-armed states continue to modernize their nuclear weapons as the countries continue to deepen their reliance on such deterrence in 2023, a Swedish think tank said Monday, June 17, 2024. (Staff Sgt. J.T. Armstrong/U.S. Air Force via AP, File)

Pentagon weighs nuclear options amid China, Russia threats

The Pentagon is conducting a review of nuclear weapons use that seeks to provide the president and military leaders with greater options for using tactical nuclear weapons in a regional conflict while preventing an escalation into global thermonuclear war, according to a senior defense policymaker.

August 18, 2026
United States Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby waits for the start of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) ** FILE **

Colby: Silence on Chinese aggression is a new strategy based on war fears

The Pentagon's senior defense policymaker on Thursday defended the lack of any mention of Chinese aggression toward the Philippines in the South China Sea or Beijing's military pressure against Taiwan in recent remarks as part of a new U.S. strategy aimed at avoiding a war with China.

August 13, 2026
Guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65) is silhouetted by the sunrise as it approaches the Port of Hueneme on Jan. 26, 2026. U.S. Navy cruisers are designed to provide air and surface protection for carrier strike groups, utilizing advanced missile systems like the Aegis Combat System. USS Chosin, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, was commissioned in 1991 and is homeported in San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Dana Rene White)

Navy advances ship-based laser gun

The Navy this week announced a $17 million contract was awarded to a California contractor for a program to build a new laser gun called SONGBOW.

July 30, 2026
This image provided by the U.S. Air Force shows the U.S. Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launching station preparing to load onto a 4th Airlift Squadron C-17 Globemaster III at Fort Bliss, Texas, Feb. 23, 2019. (Staff Sgt. Cory D. Payne/U.S. Air Force via AP) ** FILE **

House seeks report on Pentagon arms shortages

Amid reports that the U.S. military is running out of missiles and anti-missile interceptors from the conflict with Iran, House defense legislators want the Pentagon to produce regular reports to Congress on the impact of weapons shortages needed to deter China.

July 30, 2026
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Samuel J. Paparo delivers his speech during an international military conference organized by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) ** FILE **

U.S. Army deploys new hypersonic missile near Guam

The Army's newest ultra-high-speed missile known as Dark Eagle was deployed to the U.S. island of Tinian last month, 100 miles from Guam during a recent military exercise, according to Pacific Command, not to Guam as had been reported.

July 23, 2026
Capt. Alexander Vahadji (left) assigned to 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command - Pacific) Adm. Samuel J. Paparo (center) Commander of U.S. Pacific Command and Lt. Col. Alexander Mullin (right) assigned to 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command - Pacific) observe soldiers training with the Dark Eagle Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon during exercise Valiant Shield, June 2026. Exercises like VALIANT SHIELD allow Pacific Command Joint Forces the opportunity to integrate forces from all branches of service and with our allies to conduct precise, lethal, and overwhelming multi-axis, multi-domain effects that demonstrate the strength and versatility of the joint force and our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Rickert)

Congress told U.S. ill-prepared for China’s ‘unrestricted warfare’

The Chinese Communist Party operates a web of organizations engaged in irregular warfare -- conflict below the level of kinetic warfare -- targeting the U.S. which is not ready to counter the activities, an expert told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

July 22, 2026